Americans see the Christian Bible and the Muslim Quran in very different ways.
CHR Comment: The survey focuses on the Bible and the Quran and whether these texts are beneficial or harmful to American life. Not surprisingly, the Bible is much preferred, though the author proposes that there will be an increasingly negative view of the Bible in the future.
CHR Comment: The article is specifically about urban religion but comments more broadly about mapping projects in religious studies. Focus thus far has been on Catholics, Jews, and African Americans (likely Protestants).
Source: Religion in American History: What the Map of Urban Religious Histories Shows Us
CHR Comment: Swami Chidananda Saraswati travelled to Rome with other religious leaders to participate in an interreligious general audience with Pope Francis on the fiftieth anniversary of the papal document that invited dialogue with other religions. Issues of concern mentioned peace between religions and averting terrorism.
Church attendance may be falling in Poland as elsewhere across Europe, but the victory of conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party in Sunday’s election will likely advance the role of Roman Catholic values in public life and government.
CHR Comment: The comparisons are made with the high point in church attendance and Catholic piety in the 1980s. The changes are compelled by reactions to life issues such as in vetro fertilization, immigration, and materialism. A number of politically vocal priests are named.
Source: Polish vote marks resurgence of conservative Catholic values
When a mob of Muslims swooped on a little church deep in rural Aceh in Indonesia this month, the local police were nowhere to be seen, although they had received warnings of a possible attack.
CHR Comment: The article points out that the Christian population of Aceh Singkil province has grown from 6% to 11% since 2000. That is a substantial change, which perhaps explains why Muslims, such as the Islamic Defenders Front, are growing more violent. Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, has a Christian governor. Christians and Muslims intermarry and convert to one another’s religions.
Source: In Indonesia, minorities under threat from Muslim hardliners
Less than a quarter of Americans — and Christians — avoid Halloween due to its pagan roots.
CHR Comment: The survey information comes from LifeWay, the publisher for the Southern Baptist Convention. Its hard to object to kids in cute costumes but the darker aspects of Halloween observance, dabbling in horror and spiritism, still raises concerns. The article mentions All Saints Day (Nov. 1) but does not mention Reformation Day (Oct. 31) as a Christian observance.
Source: Even most Christians agree that Halloween is fun, not pagan – On Faith & Culture
The topic of Ross Douthat’s Erasmus Lecture for First Things magazine this week was “The Crisis of Conservative Catholicism,” a timely one given the recent public tussles over the Synod of the Family in Rome. On the same evening, a group of prominent Catholic theologians released an . . .
CHR Comment: Kaya Oakes looks at the divide in Roman Catholicism, which the writer characterizes as liberal Catholics v. conservative Catholics. New York Times columnist Ross Douthat is the conservative, whose recent article drew criticism. Toward the end of the article Oakes characterizes conservative Roman Catholics by certain liturgical practices rather than by specific doctrinal views or moral views.
He’s a plainspoken outsider and a former neurosurgeon. Ben Carson has lurched to the front of the pack in the race to be the GOP’s presidential nominee. But his foreign policy ideas are raising questions.
CHR Comment: Although the article is supposed to be about Carson’s worldview, it turns to focus on Maj. Gen. Dees whom Carson met at church. The writer describes Dees’s views on Christian outreach and comments about Islam.
Source: The world according to Dr. Carson | Public Radio International
The Polish priest announced on Oct. 3 that he was gay, on the eve of the Vatican’s synod on the family.
CHR Comment: The interview expresses significant disappointment in the synod on the family, the Vatican, and the Catholic Church in general. Charamsa does not think the church will change its doctrine. Yet the disaffected priest still expresses hope that Pope Francis will foster greater openness to homosexual Roman Catholics. One wonders how Charamsa’s public and defiant actions affected future discussions of the issues.
A National Geographic film takes an even-handed approach to the story of Thanksgiving.
CHR Comment: The film should be interesting. The article fails to mentions some important features of the history, such as the way some Indians looked to the Europeans as potential allies against other Indians as well as the role of disease, which was the primary cause of the decimation of the Indian population. Jered Diamond’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel” helps explain the role of disease especially well. I hope the film likewise describes the Puritanism of the Pilgrims, understanding them as Christians. The second article linked below refers to a documentary in PBS’s American Experience series, which is also about the Pilgrims.
church history review 